![]() ![]() After five years of research and development, they debuted their new line of Gretsch classics, and they were a runaway hit. Using the expertise of long-time employees like Duke Kramer and some borrowed vintage Gretsches, the folks at Gretsch were able to reverse-engineer all of their classic designs. They weren’t buying much more than the name, as Gretsch had ceased electric guitar production completely, and most of the company’s golden-era schematics had been lost in a series of fires. He repeatedly made offers to Baldwin, but he got shot down every time.Īfter seventeen years of badgering them, Fred and his wife Dinah were finally able to buy back his family’s company from Baldwin in 1984. Under his stewardship, his new company became one of the leading importers and exporters of musical instruments in the world, but he always kept his eye on the old family business. ![]() Fred W.–the “fourth Fred” if you’re counting–practically grew up in the Gretsch factory, and he worked in various capacities for the company until a few years after the Baldwin sale when he struck off on his own and started Fred Gretsch Enterprises. Gretsch, great-grandson of Fredrich and nephew to Fred Jr. The company needed a shot in the arm.Įnter Fred W. During the psychedelic seventies and the hard-rocking eighties, Gretsches fell out of favor with guitar players. During the Baldwin years, Gretsch kept churning out excellent instruments, but time passed the company by. ![]() Since no family members were ready to take the reins, he sold the business to Baldwin Pianos in 1967. They went from producing 25 guitars a day to 100, and even then, there was a six-month wait time if you wanted a Gretsch.īusiness was booming, but after four decades in the business, Fred Jr. America got swept up in Beatlemania, and demand for Gretsch Guitars quadrupled overnight. Believe it or not, Gretsch outsold Fender during the fifties!īut, no one at Gretsch could have prepared for the deluge of orders that came in when George Harrison showed up on every music fan’s TV screen playing a Gretsch Chet Atkins Country Gentlemen. It also didn’t hurt that Duane Eddy, Chet Atkins, and Eddie Cochrane–three of the most popular players of the time–were Gretsch endorsees. They came in all sorts of flashy custom colors, and they came equipped with gizmos and gadgets that appealed to forward-thinking guitarists. During the era of big cars with big fins and bigger engines, Gretsch guitars fit right in. Again, the Gretsches recognized that electric guitars were the future of American music, and they decided to ride the wave. completed his service as a Navy commander in World War II, things really took off for Gretsch. ![]()
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